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A comfort zone is a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person and they are at ease and in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress.
The comfort zone is known as a feeling of control and a feeling of being safe. It is a state of mind where you feel as though there is no posing risk to you, a state where you can relax and are safe. It can be different for every person and it is up tot hem to adapt their environment and lifestyle when they are in need of going to that safe place.
I have created another mind-map exploring what a comfort zone is, why it is comfortable and helpful to us and what the positives and negatives are when it comes to breaking out of the comfort zone.
While researching the comfort zone, I came across two ideologies for what it is. The first one was in relation to performance management, which suggested that the comfort zone is a state of mind where you are free of anxiety and stress. It is then proposed that there is an "optimal performance zone", in which performance can be enhanced by some amount of stress. And furthermore, a danger zone where performance declines rapidly under the influence of debilitating anxiety levels.
White A. – ‘From Comfort Zone to Performance Management’. 2008 ISBN 978-2-930583-01-3. White & MacLean Publishing.
I think that it is an interesting ideology that I can actually recognise and apply to some of the game mechanics that I have seen. I know at this point of the project, games should not be on the mind of course but it has got me thinking of some potential ways that this system can be used in a game made for my chosen topic.
The second ideology for comfort zones was the type I am much more familiar with, which is in relation to personal boundaries or what I would call the "safety bubble". Personal boundaries are communicated and asserted rules that an individual has set, and must not be compromised or violated by other parties.
Managing personal boundaries is incredibly important to maintain your stress, comfort but also how you wish to be treated and perceived by other people. Successfully created your boundaries comes down to three critical steps; defining your values, asserting your boundaries and then honouring them. To put simply, work out what you need for yourself and within your relationship in order to be healthy and happy. Then make sure you assert boundaries to ensure those values are lived by, through having conversations with your peers and making sure your rules are understood. Finally, honouring your boundaries means making sure they are actually respected, and not being hypocritical by violating others boundaries.